TrainBoard.com - Blogs http://www.trainboard.com/grapevine/blog.php TrainBoard.com: Discussion forums and message boards for everything railroading. Featuring forums for specific railroads, all scales of model railroading, and anything related to trains and railroads. en Wed, 20 Aug 2008 12:40:08 GMT vBulletin 60 http://www.trainboard.com/grapevine/images/misc/rss.jpg TrainBoard.com - Blogs http://www.trainboard.com/grapevine/blog.php Power River Basin http://www.trainboard.com/grapevine/blog.php?b=1350 Tue, 19 Aug 2008 21:01:02 GMT Thanks to a posting by: frontrange We can see and read about Power River Basin. He has a couple links included in his post make sure to check... Thanks to a posting by: frontrange

We can see and read about Power River Basin. He has a couple links included in his post make sure to check them out also.

http://www.trainboard.com/grapevine/...d.php?t=100986


Just a sample (click on above link) ]]> Mr. Train http://www.trainboard.com/grapevine/blog.php?b=1350 test http://www.trainboard.com/grapevine/blog.php?b=1349 Mon, 18 Aug 2008 05:08:07 GMT video file http://www.youtube.com/v/25lCV9RD2Mg video file
http://www.youtube.com/v/25lCV9RD2Mg ]]> up1853 http://www.trainboard.com/grapevine/blog.php?b=1349 More Progress, and New Stuff! http://www.trainboard.com/grapevine/blog.php?b=1347 Sun, 17 Aug 2008 03:53:24 GMT Today I finished the (south) part of the 2' door, the track south of the BNSF mainline of the area I am modeling. I also purchased a Xuron rail nipper, A big like 2.5' thing of evergreeen styrene, I'd have to look @ the package to see exactly but it is big and was $10!!! pricey but big and handy I have 4 sheets of it and it is .30" thick, just right for the buildings I am making flexible and yet surprisingly sturdy. All the sheet packs were the same at Caboose Hobbies. Also I got a Trains mag and a Model Railroader. A dimi trains (IM) UP composite beet gon and a UP covered ACF (IM) hopper. Oh ya a HO grain bin, there is a huge bin for a beanery on the south side of the side of the tracks here in town so that's what that is going for... ]]> MRL http://www.trainboard.com/grapevine/blog.php?b=1347 Summer vacation http://www.trainboard.com/grapevine/blog.php?b=1345 Sat, 16 Aug 2008 02:37:00 GMT Train festival at AUG/2 2008
]]> up1853 http://www.trainboard.com/grapevine/blog.php?b=1345 #4 layout http://www.trainboard.com/grapevine/blog.php?b=1344 Fri, 15 Aug 2008 23:19:39 GMT Track plan for #4 layout.
started at 200609.
5ft1/3in x 9ft
]]> up1853 http://www.trainboard.com/grapevine/blog.php?b=1344 test http://www.trainboard.com/grapevine/blog.php?b=1343 Fri, 15 Aug 2008 22:30:17 GMT EMD F2A RI#40
]]> up1853 http://www.trainboard.com/grapevine/blog.php?b=1343 Quebec CA http://www.trainboard.com/grapevine/blog.php?b=1338 Thu, 14 Aug 2008 00:13:17 GMT Next week I will be in Canada.
Any trainboard members in this area?
I don't speak French!:tb-sad: ]]> Mr. Train http://www.trainboard.com/grapevine/blog.php?b=1338 Riverside, CA http://www.trainboard.com/grapevine/blog.php?b=1337 Wed, 13 Aug 2008 01:09:24 GMT My work sent me to Riverside, CA
I will be here till Thusday morning, Doesn't look like there will any train watching time.
Any trainboard members in the area?? ]]> Mr. Train http://www.trainboard.com/grapevine/blog.php?b=1337 Layout Progress Report 8/10/2008 http://www.trainboard.com/grapevine/blog.php?b=1336 Mon, 11 Aug 2008 06:24:53 GMT *This week* * Splicing the south end and west side * Cutting in Riverside Drive Underpass * Building an operating Transfer Table... This week
  • Splicing the south end and west side
  • Cutting in Riverside Drive Underpass
  • Building an operating Transfer Table
Splicing


The South End splice

No special fanfare, I just spliced in the south end central high-line gap. It did happen to fit quite nicely, but there is a slight rise on the east side of the splice. May tack or screw more to correct.


The West Side splice / Tunneling into the closet

This is where the layout meets the closet. Halland Yard is deep inside. Nothing too wild. I did find out that the wall is not completely square here, requiring a few extra cuts.

Riverside Drive Underpass


Looking southwest through Riverside Drive Underpass

This is the Walther's Art Deco Highway Underpass. I bought and assembled this kit before I even had a place to put it. Well here is a good place.

I cut the underpass opening using a hacksaw. Unfortunately, that didn't leave a straight flat bottom, and I had to file the bottom of each side to fit the bridge.

When I test fit the bridge, I found out I didn't plan for enough clearance. I had planned on 1", but needed 1.5". To compensate, I lowered the lowland riverside area by 1/4" and raised the approaches to the bridge by 1/4". Fingers crossed that this grade increase won't have too much of an operational effect.

Transfer Table


Take 1 - Building an operating transfer table

See my Special Projects entry Transfer Table 1.

Whats Next?

I need to layout the sub roadbed for Halland Yard, but I'm hesitant until I know what my transfer table is going to look like and how it will operate. I'll probably lay it out anyway, then pray I can make the transfer table fit.

I have a few other things to take care of in the closet. Like rehanging the shelving and constructing a smaller tack board for general office use. (The closet is my main household office desk. The yard in the closet will only fly with my wife if the desk still functions as an office desk.) ]]> gpa http://www.trainboard.com/grapevine/blog.php?b=1336 Transfer Table 1 http://www.trainboard.com/grapevine/blog.php?b=1335 Mon, 11 Aug 2008 05:44:08 GMT Image: http://www.trainboard.com/railimages/data/500/thumbs/Transfer_Table_Top_Copy.JPG ...

Transfer Table

I spent most of this week building an operating transfer table for my yard. The table will move engines from the end of the A/D track to the tail of the yard lead. The table is 8"x9". The table uses a threaded cam rod to drive a sled which is inset with a spiked t-nut.

The end result looks fairly nice and operates freely. However, the track bridge doesn't move uniformly. The west end of the bridge always slides out further than the east end. As a result, the bridge does not remain perpendicular. I will try affixing some guides to rectify this problem.



Construction

I cut the front, back and sled to match at 9". This was my first mistake. I should have to cut the them at 10". Then I cut two side pieces at 7 1/2".

I clamped and drilled the front, the back and the sled, using a perpendicular drilling jig I bought at Rockler. I drilled three holes in each piece. One hole to accept the threaded steel cam rod. The other two to accept the aluminum slide rods.

I test fit the cam and rods then started gluing. This is where I made my second mistake, I glued the side pieces to the inside of the end pieces. As a result, I had to chop an inch off the side pieces before gluing the front. Also, I think I flipped the the back piece upside down. The holes are now slightly off.

I should have marked the pieces before assembly to identify top and bottom and front and back of each piece.

Since I mistakenly glued the side pieces to the inside of the assembly, I now had to cut the sled to fit. This is something I was hoping to avoid in the first place.

When I assembled the cam rod, I tried every which way til Sunday to fit a brad-hole t-nut onto the back end of the rod. But the t-nut kept falling out when I retracted the sled. I finally gave up on the t-nut, and used two 5/16" nuts as a stop to keep the cam in place.

When I fitted all the rods, I found that I needed to enlarge almost all of the holes I had drilled. I drilled 5/16" holes for 5/16" rods and they were too tight to slide. I tried a few bits, but found a good bet was to make the holes 1/32" larger than the rod they were accepting. Unfortunately, I didn't figure this out until I had drilled a couple of holes 1/16" larger.

The back and front employ a 1/4" poplar fascia to to hold the slide rods in place. The back fascia is glued on, the front is screwed in place with 4 machine screws. This allows me to disassemble the mechanism and fine tune it if need be.

Materials List

1 - 1/2"x3"x4' poplar board
1 - 1/4"x3"x4' poplar board
2 - 5/16" aluminum rods
1 - 5/16" threaded steel rod
1 - spiked t-nut
1 - brad hole t-nuts
1 - casement window handle
4 - 5/16" nuts
1 - 5/16" washer
4 - #8 machine screws

What Now?

I'm going to try to make this table work. If I can't, I'll probably try to make a second table with a slightly modified design. Chiefly it will employ a spring loaded and locking retractable bridge on top of the sled. This will allow me to reliably index the bridge, by retracting it when it is in motion, then locking it when it reaches an indexable position. ]]> gpa http://www.trainboard.com/grapevine/blog.php?b=1335 <![CDATA[Derby cars & Boxcars...]]> http://www.trainboard.com/grapevine/blog.php?b=1334 Sun, 10 Aug 2008 17:03:34 GMT I used a day of working on demolition derby cars as an opportunity to do some more "backyard railfanning".

Our derby team is located in Orland,CA about 19 miles west outa Chico. Since I live in Auburn, I have several different ways I could take to get to the shops.

Yesterday I decided to cut accross to Lincoln and go up through Oroville and Chico and across to Orland. This gave me the chance to do some more photo documentation on the way.

First stop was Wheatland. I recently had the location of the California Central shops and facilities pointed out to me on another trip. This line always interests me and this was a new "discovery" and needed to be checked out. Course on the way by, I couldn't locate the spot. :( Two more passes and I still couldn't quite find what I was looking for. Oh well, I make some inquiries and get a better location.

In Oroville on another trip for disc golf, without camera, I spotted another boxcar I had missed on previous trips. The plan was to capture this one on film and poke around for a short time to see what else I can find.

I first went to the south end of the yard to take a looksee. Lo and behold someone had a WP box in their backyard. Bonus!!! :D
After this I slowly drove around each of the lumber mills located nearby. In doin so I found two more boxcars forming a shed at the back of some junk yard. One of these looks to be an old wooden sided box like those WP and SN had. The other is modern WP and I could see number but couldn't quite make it out even through my telephoto. More bonuses!

Next I hit up my original goal which sits behind the county disposal service. Painted all white with no access gave me no clue as to its lineage but if I had to bet, I'd say WP as well. Seems most railcars now off the rails in Oroville are ex WP.

Now if you'll recall a previous trip from another blog, I wasn't able to get the cabeese in Thermolito across the river. Actually we never even saw one of the two even though they're supposed to be at the same spot. I decided to try again. This time there is a "new" caboose sitting in the lot that hadn't previously been there. These two cabeese are mostly hidden behind some bushes so photos suck. One is definately ATSF and the number is easy to see. The other I couldn't place but got a shot showing a number and will research it when I get my photos developed.

Well now though I left at 8am and shoulda been at the shop to work on cars by 10:30 or 11am, I have used up too much time at this point. Time to put the camera away and get goin.

Until next trip... ]]> John Barnhill http://www.trainboard.com/grapevine/blog.php?b=1334 Amador Central Sign Stolen... http://www.trainboard.com/grapevine/blog.php?b=1333 Sun, 10 Aug 2008 16:10:14 GMT *Amador Central railroad sign stolen ... Amador Central railroad sign stolen

Sat Aug 9, 2008 12:16 pm (PDT)

Amador Central railroad sign stolen
Amador Ledger-Dispatch - Jackson,CA

A reward may be offered for the return of this sign, stolen last month from a locked building owned by Sierra Pacific Industries.

A hole was cut through the wall of the building that once housed the last two Amador Central locomotives and the historical sign, now possibly gone forever.

One of the last remnants of the vanishing Amador Central Railroad was stolen from the wall of a locked building on Jackson Gate Road some time last month.

The stolen item was a bright blue sign with letters a foot high, which read: "AMADOR CENTRAL RR."

The violated building served as the terminus of the railroad system that was used for 100 years to haul lumber, plywood and particle board from the old mill in Martell to the switching yard in Ione. The building and all the property that once belonged to the Amador Central is now owned by Sierra Pacific Industries. SPI is in the process of divesting itself of the railroad system and equipment.

Removal of this large piece of memorabilia was made possible by cutting a 4-by-8-foot hole in the side of the frame building, perhaps needlessly. "The power was on," said SPI spokesman Dave Brown. "They could have rolled up one of the roll-up doors to get the sign out, but they cut a 4-by-8 hole in the wall instead."

Negotiations have been under way for donation of all railroad memorabilia to the Amador County Museum. Brown said that the donation agreement had been approved by county supervisors two weeks ago and was scheduled for finalization by next week.

SPI has had previous experience with theft and looting at the old mill site, as well as along the dormant tracks of the old Amador Central. "People used to come to steal the railroad ties," Brown said. "It was always small stuff. We've had kids caught, but no one was ever arrested."

Brown conjectured that the thieves must have known that the resident caretaker, Bill Stewart, wouldn't be there at the time of the break-in. Stewart lives on the property in a modular home, keeping an eye on things.

On a tour of the crime scene, Stewart pointed out the clear trail through high weeds leading to the large hole in the wooden siding. He told of finding evidence of the use of a yellow reciprocating saw blade to cut through the hasp of the inner door, allowing access to the sign. He showed the likely egress point in the back wall of the building, safe from view by anyone who happened to be driving by on Jackson Gate Road.

"This was carefully planned," Stewart said. "I've only been away from the property a couple of times."

Stewart provided a vivid description of the sign: steel letters, each one a foot-and-a-half high, with baked-on blue porcelain paint, all bolted onto 8-foot long steel cross members attached to the wall with lag screws. "It must have weighed a lot," he said. "It had to take two people to remove it from the wall."

"Nothing else seemed to be missing," Brown added. "They just wanted this one piece."

Amador County Undersheriff Jim Wegner informed the Ledger Dispatch that SPI representative Alicia Brenner had reported the theft and had estimated the stolen sign's value at $1,500. Brenner said she was last at the warehouse approximately two months ago, when she was one of the participants in the final ride of the last locomotive down the rails of the Amador Central.

Brown hinted at the possibility of a reward, "somewhere in the range of $1,000 to $1,500," but wasn't specific. Anyone with information should call Brown at the SPI office: (530) 644-1759.
-----------------------------

Here's a very poor photo I took which shows the sign:


Please visit my Amador Central page. ]]> John Barnhill http://www.trainboard.com/grapevine/blog.php?b=1333 2008: Denver and Intermountain Railroad #25 http://www.trainboard.com/grapevine/blog.php?b=1332 Sat, 09 Aug 2008 21:36:36 GMT D&IM Trolley #25 took to the rails today!!!!!!!


]]> Stourbridge Lion http://www.trainboard.com/grapevine/blog.php?b=1332 First Time Working With A Steam Locomotive http://www.trainboard.com/grapevine/blog.php?b=1331 Sat, 09 Aug 2008 14:57:14 GMT It has been awhile since an update so here it goes..... Last Sunday I had a great experience with Yreka Western 19. This was my first experience... It has been awhile since an update so here it goes.....

Last Sunday I had a great experience with Yreka Western 19. This was my first experience with a real steam locmotive (as far as working with one) and it was to great for words. From firing her up in the morning to shut down, I enjoyed every second, and boy was I dirty heading home! ;)

All in all it was a life changing event and I hope to continue working on this beautiful locomotive.

And you didn't think I would leave you without photos did you!?

Just check out the new uploads to my Yreka Western photo album here on Trainboard.

TrainBoard.com - My Photo Album
 ]]> traindude109 http://www.trainboard.com/grapevine/blog.php?b=1331 2006: Idaho Springs, Colorado http://www.trainboard.com/grapevine/blog.php?b=1330 Sat, 09 Aug 2008 02:39:03 GMT Believe or not I'm still finding items to add to my blog from 2006. This entry is dedicated to the Static Display of C&S #60 and #70.



RRAdventures Website: Static Displays ]]> Stourbridge Lion http://www.trainboard.com/grapevine/blog.php?b=1330